Echium Pininana

It's time to start documenting the take off of these awesome plants.

Walking around Winchester a couple of years ago I saw a fantastic flower stalk in the garden of some alms houses, it easily reached 12 feet in height.

It was Echium Pininana, a subtropical plant that really shouldn't be growing here. After some detective work I spoke with the gardener responsible and she sent me some seed.

They are a bi-annual so I have had to protect them through winter and they are destined to flower this year, I can't wait!

In other news, it's been blooming cold today with snow flurries and a bitter wind.